The greeting card-sized pictures were given to him Monday in the hallway of the Hartford statehouse by victim advocates, who put a full court press on legislators to adopt a package of sweeping gun control measures.

It worked.

"Did staring into the eyes of these children who are no longer with us have an impact on me? Of course," said Walko, who is in his first term representing the 150th District in the House.

A trio of Greenwich lawmakers signed onto the legislation, which Democratic Gov. Dannel P. Malloy ushered into law at noon Thursday and was immediately characterized as the strictest language on the books in the nation.

All of them are Republicans who were previously noncommittal on whether they would support universal background checks, broader definitions of banned assault weapons and outlawing high-capacity ammunition clips like those used by the 20-year-old shooter, Adam Lanza.

"I cannot get my head around having an incident happen at my kids' school, New Lebanon School," Walko said. "But that doesn't mean that we now have unfettered discretion to violate the Second Amendment."

Passed 110 days after the deadliest primary school shooting in U.S. history, the bill adds the Bushmaster XM-15 E2S, the semi-automatic rifle used by Lanza, to the list of banned weapons in the state.

Lanza went through 154 rounds of ammunition in about five minutes while inside the school, using 10 30-round clips before committing suicide with a handgun, newly unsealed warrants revealed.

"Well, in all truth, I don't think that anyone who is not in military or law enforcement really needs that kind of rapid fire gun," said state Rep. Livvy Floren, R-149th District. "The evidence that they found after the massacre there was very definitive, that maybe if it wasn't as rapid-fire, not as many youngsters would have been killed."

The vote in the House was 105 to 44 in favor of the multi-pronged legislation, which also seeks to ameliorate shortcomings in school security and the mental health safety net.

"Do I think that this bill violates the Second Amendment? I don't. But I think it pushes the limits," Walko said.

State Sen. L. Scott Frantz, R-36th District, who represents all of Greenwich and parts of Stamford and New Canaan, was one of 26 "yes" votes in the upper chamber. Eight Republicans and two Democrats opposed the bill, which Frantz characterized as a step in the right direction.

"I do believe it will withstand the test of it being constitutional or not," he said.

Frantz proposed a trio of amendments to the gun component of the legislation that failed in the Senate, however.

The first would have exempted pistols and handguns from a 10-round clip limit, which Frantz proposed increasing to 17 rounds.

His rationale was that security guards, retired police and retired corrections officers rely on high-capacity clips for their personal protection.

"A pistol is not nearly as accurate as a rifle is," Frantz said. "I think one can make a case for higher capacity for handguns."

Under a separate amendment, Frantz wanted to exempt the purchase of new shotguns from an eligibility permit requirement that requires buyers to be fingerprinted. Another provision of that amendment would have exempted buyers of shotgun shells from having to go through the process of filling out an ammunition purchase certificate.

"The reason for that is these are used for sporting purposes only," Frantz said. "You've got so many rod and gun clubs in the state of Connecticut."

The way the law is written, anyone buying shotgun shells to shoot clay pigeons at a gun club would have to fill out the certificate, he said.

Frantz also proposed exempting .22-caliber shells from the ammunition certification requirement, saying that those kinds of rounds are often used for target practice to shoot at soda cans and glass bottles.

"The .22-caliber is small. It's considered a non-lethal caliber," Frantz said.

The bill that was signed into law Thursday in no way confiscates firearms that are currently owned, according to Frantz, who said that was a major sticking point for him.

"For the average gun owner in Connecticut, the only difference going forward will be that they will have to apply online and this will be done very expeditiously for the ammunition purchase certificate," Frantz said.

A fourth member of the town's General Assembly delegation, state Rep. Alfred Camillo, R-151st District, who is undergoing treatment for thyroid cancer and missed the 2:30 a.m. vote, has said he would have also voted "yes."

Walko, who lives 88 miles from the Capitol, arrived back home in Byram at 4 a.m., only to turn around and drive back to Hartford at 11:30 a.m. for a vote by the Finance, Revenue and Bonding Committee.

"This bill is not a perfect bill for me," Walko said. "In some areas it goes too far and with little data to support that it will be effective."

The ban on high-capacity magazine was a no-brainer for Walko. Expanding the definitions of assault weapons was not so much.

"After listening to all sides and the debate that has taken place over the last several months, I believe that restricting high-capacity magazines will have the most likelihood of success in protecting the citizens of the state," Walko said. "Whether there are 20 bullets in a pistol or 20 bullets in a rifle, the type of gun is not of significant importance."